Devices mounted overhead to be suspended downwardly from a ceiling or other overhead support are well known. They can be divided generally into two categories: static devices and dynamic, motor-driven devices. Lighting fixtures are examples of the former and ceiling fans are examples of the latter. While the considerations involved in mounting both types of devices would appear to be generally similar, they are in fact quite different. The problems are much more severe with respect to the dynamic units as compared to the static units.
When initially mounting the unit the installer must normally contend with a greater weight problem with the dynamic units. Most light fixtures can be substantially disassembled with only the base being supported during mounting. Light bulbs, refractors and reflectors can usually be attached after the base unit is mounted and electrically wired so that the installer has little problem dealing with the weight of the unit during installation. The motor driven dynamic units, on the other hand, must be mounted initially with the full weight of the motor and motor housing so that the electrical connections can be made. The problems of supporting a heavy motor and housing overhead while mechanically and electrically attaching them to supports are apparent.
Subsequent maintenance also involves significantly different degrees of difficulty. Most lighting fixtures require virtually no maintenance except for occasional changing of burned out light bulbs. There is rarely need to dismount the lighting fixture from its overhead support or to disconnect its wiring. The dynamic units such as fans, however, commonly need motor servicing during their lifetime and not infrequently an entire motor unit needs to be overhauled. Such maintenance usually requires that the motor be dismounted from the support and the electrical wiring be disconnected so that the motor (and the related housing) can be removed to a work area for the needed service. As with the initial installation, the problems of dismounting and remounting a heavy motor unit and its housing are evident.
Finally, and most importantly, a static fixture like a lighting fixture places no forces on the mounting supports except the downward pull of the unit's weight. A dynamic motor driven unit, on the other hand, imparts to the support the torque generated by the rotational motion of the motor and a greater or lesser amount of vibration generated by the operation of the motor and other moving parts of the device, such as fan blades, as well as the downward thrust of the unit's weight (which as noted above is often significantly greater than the weight of an equivalent lighting fixture). The torque and vibration may be quite substantial if one is dealing with a ceiling fan with a high output motor and long fan blades.
Through pin connectors to join prior art devices to downrods have been known. However, in the prior art units Where loose wires pan through the downrod, the wires and pins frequently interfere and often the pins will cut the wires' insulations and cause a short circuit. In addition, it is extremely difficult for an installer to connect a device to a downrod while simultaneously trying to manipulate the wires and pins so that they avoid each other.
It would therefore be of particular interest to have a mounting system which would allow for rapid and easy mounting of devices such as fans to overhead mounts and which would insure that secure and safe electrical connections could be made. It would be particularly advantageous for such apparatus to incorporate means to make the electrical connections simultaneously as the unit was being mechanically mounted. It would further be advantageous for the mounting means to be such that quick and simple demounting would be possible, followed by equally quick and simple remounting, to permit maintenance to be conducted as easily as possible.